"An unexamined life is not worth living." Socrates
Have you noticed how much corruption results when people are left unchecked? I have to admit that I have become sort of desensitized to the daily reports of political offices up for sale, financial institutions bankrupting after first bleeding the folks whose funds they 'managed' penniless, and people harpooning one another just to get to a parking space at CVS!
If politicians were actually accountable, would there be broken campaign promises? If spouses were completely transparent, would there be divorce? If teenagers went to where they asked permission to go, would there be a need for GPS units tracking their whereabouts to their parents laptop? Can a society actually be governed apart from regulatory commissions? Would athletes keep from 'performance enhancers' if there were not random testing? Would you go home early on Friday if the boss was on vacation? Would you be more prudent on the computer if you knew the FBI would investigate your web browsing history?
We need accountability. Accountability is God's safeguard and road map. Accountability guards what we do, and guides what we should be doing. Accountability keeps us on task and directs our energies to what is really meaningful, valuable and profitable. When we take seriously that our lives on this earth and beyond this existence will be measured, that alone should keep us from frittering away time and taking seriously that God is watching when no one else is. He cares what you are doing. He is concerned for the choices that you are making. He is listening to the words you are speaking. He is aware of your every move. His attention to details, specifically the details of your life, is meticulous.
"Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment..." Hebrews 9:27
God is 'all knowing'. That is just one of His inexhaustible and indescribable attributes. As hard as that is to comprehend...He is 'in the know' about you...and in spite of what He knows, He makes invitation to you to bless you with His lasting joy and provision. Combined in all that God knows about you...He is fully aware of your needs...material, emotional, relational and no doubt, eternal. That is why, couched around the verse just mentioned are these just as important words of instruction, encouragement and comfort;
"He has appeared once for all, at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him." Hebrews 9:26-28
He readies us for the Big Day of accountability by removing the regrets caused by choices made, thoughts imagined and words carelessly or intentionally spoken. He knows that we are unprepared to stand before Him to be appraised, and so He makes the needed provision (forgiveness and salvation) for us because of His undeniable love...revealed through His dying for our living.
Keep that in mind the next time you feel the urgent need to blurt out insult or flip off the driver who just cut over into your lane of traffic. Keep in your mind and heart that although you struggle with sin, that He has atoned for it and offers you a life worth living and examining. Right now...thank God for regulating you! Praise Him for the parameters of His protection that He provides to keep you off the off ramps of life. Thank Him for superintending your minutes by calling your attention to the details, the results and the consequences of your choices.
Live as though your Final Exam were today. Be prepared to show Him what He already knows to be true about you. Let your readiness prompt anticipation and eagerness to appear before Him face to face. There need be no shame on that day...and there really can be great joy and reward as you enjoy the God who loves you through these days that lead to eternity with Him.
Monday, January 19, 2009
'Show Me' Sequel
"I need accountability. Really, everybody needs to be accountable."
A phone conversation of just this past Saturday afternoon yielded this obvious reminder as encouragements were exchanged. In this particular case, a job was at the heart of the dialogue. Being prompt. Being precise. Being productive. Being measured. All of these are components of most work relationships. There are expectations of being an employee from the employer, and they are usually reasonable and agreed to before for the first training session and certainly before the release of the first paycheck.
You have heard this statement that is normally attributed to Scripture; "God helps those who help themselves." A friend of mine in response to this human proverb responded; "Those who help themselves usually go to prison!" We chuckled, but there is truth in both statements really. Blessed is the person who is diligent and responsible. 'Un-blessed' is the person whose energy is devoted to taking what others have earned.
Does God really help those who help themselves? Does He have the right to inspect your life to determine if you are being accountable with strength He has provided you, the intellect He has invested in you, the personality that He created in you, the abilities that He has engineered in you...and the one and only life that He has authored in you? Isn't there something reasonable that He should be able to expect of you in return for His generosity toward you? Can He require anything of you or is He to accept what acknowledgements you may have time, want or memory to offer up?
"And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, the books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books." Revelation 20:12
Your life is being carefully monitored. Every detail of your thoughts and actions are being recorded for future reference. Evaluations are forthcoming and eternal. God has issued the forewarning of your face to face meeting with Him. You have an assigned schedule fixed and there will be no options as to whether or not you will be prompt. This is a meeting that can be absolutely joy filled or grief ridden. The whole of your life will be unveiled so that an honest appraisal of you can be accurate beyond question.
Some questions for the here and now as you prepare for the hereafter...
1. Did you exercise faith in Christ who gave Himself for you so that your sin would be covered by His grace?
2. Did your conversations with your spouse, kids, family, friends, neighbors, work associates, friends and sales clerks reflect your relationship with Him?
3. Was your attitude one of gratitude and grace toward others? Were you understanding, forgiving, and servant minded or were you annoyed with, complaining of and looking to 'get yours' in your relationship circles?
4. Did you live for the temporal, the immediate, the instant...gratifying self or were you sensitive to your 'passing through' and careful that you kept your eye on the eternal while living in the moment?
5. Did you take God more seriously than you did yourself? Were you accountable to Him for the one and only life that He gave you. Did you depend on Him to guide you, guard you, protect you and provide for you? Did you enjoy Him and thank Him for His generosity to you?
It really does matter that we live each day with a sense of future accountability. When we do, we can anticipate quite a reward for living wisely. "Really, everybody needs to be accountable."
The truth is...everyone will be.
A phone conversation of just this past Saturday afternoon yielded this obvious reminder as encouragements were exchanged. In this particular case, a job was at the heart of the dialogue. Being prompt. Being precise. Being productive. Being measured. All of these are components of most work relationships. There are expectations of being an employee from the employer, and they are usually reasonable and agreed to before for the first training session and certainly before the release of the first paycheck.
You have heard this statement that is normally attributed to Scripture; "God helps those who help themselves." A friend of mine in response to this human proverb responded; "Those who help themselves usually go to prison!" We chuckled, but there is truth in both statements really. Blessed is the person who is diligent and responsible. 'Un-blessed' is the person whose energy is devoted to taking what others have earned.
Does God really help those who help themselves? Does He have the right to inspect your life to determine if you are being accountable with strength He has provided you, the intellect He has invested in you, the personality that He created in you, the abilities that He has engineered in you...and the one and only life that He has authored in you? Isn't there something reasonable that He should be able to expect of you in return for His generosity toward you? Can He require anything of you or is He to accept what acknowledgements you may have time, want or memory to offer up?
"And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, the books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books." Revelation 20:12
Your life is being carefully monitored. Every detail of your thoughts and actions are being recorded for future reference. Evaluations are forthcoming and eternal. God has issued the forewarning of your face to face meeting with Him. You have an assigned schedule fixed and there will be no options as to whether or not you will be prompt. This is a meeting that can be absolutely joy filled or grief ridden. The whole of your life will be unveiled so that an honest appraisal of you can be accurate beyond question.
Some questions for the here and now as you prepare for the hereafter...
1. Did you exercise faith in Christ who gave Himself for you so that your sin would be covered by His grace?
2. Did your conversations with your spouse, kids, family, friends, neighbors, work associates, friends and sales clerks reflect your relationship with Him?
3. Was your attitude one of gratitude and grace toward others? Were you understanding, forgiving, and servant minded or were you annoyed with, complaining of and looking to 'get yours' in your relationship circles?
4. Did you live for the temporal, the immediate, the instant...gratifying self or were you sensitive to your 'passing through' and careful that you kept your eye on the eternal while living in the moment?
5. Did you take God more seriously than you did yourself? Were you accountable to Him for the one and only life that He gave you. Did you depend on Him to guide you, guard you, protect you and provide for you? Did you enjoy Him and thank Him for His generosity to you?
It really does matter that we live each day with a sense of future accountability. When we do, we can anticipate quite a reward for living wisely. "Really, everybody needs to be accountable."
The truth is...everyone will be.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
'Show Me' History
There is a reason that Missouri is known as the 'Show Me' State.
According to the Missouri Secretary of State's Office, the state slogan is 'unofficial', (so what if it the 'unofficial' slogan is on every Missouri license plate!) and its origins unconfirmed. If you need that in writing because you are a 'Show Me' kind of person, you can look in the Official Manual of the State of Missouri, 1979-1980, page 1486.
According to the 'Show Me' legend, U.S. Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver, who served in the House of Representatives from 1879-1903 was attending an 1899 Naval banquet in Philadelphia. In a speech there he declared, "I come from a sate that raises corn and cotton and cocklerburs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces me nor satisfied me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me!" Although unconfirmed and unofficial, his speech popularized the saying for sure.
"Do not merely listen to the Word and deceive yourselves. Do what it says." James 1:22
Actions matter to God and they should matter to you.
What you DO makes a difference to God and to others. What you DO validates the worth of your proclamations, platitudes and promises. What you DO is the compelling factor that draws people to faith in Christ or a repelling reality that stymies faith of those in search of Him. One of the problems of listening to sermons and speeches is that...you listen to sermons and speeches! Listening is the starting point, ("Faith comes by hearing the message and the message is heard through the word of Christ." Romans 10:17), but it is not the ending point. Hearing is the launching point that leads to action...from a transformed heart that is applied in the venue of real life...in your marriage, with your children, at the office, around your neighborhood...and in your church.
I have often wondered how the people of Israel could stand for the majority of the day listening to the Word of God (read the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah and you will be 'shown') without sitting! They stood the whole while as the Scripture was read, explained and applied in their hearing so that a specific outcome would result...they would DO what they heard! The did not have pews, theater seats or lawn chairs...God spoke to them...and off they went to their families, tribes, clans, villages, neighborhoods and houses. Why?
To DO something! There was a time to listen and there was a time to live! There was a time to absorb and then a time to be poured out. There was a time to learn and then came the time to apply. Be careful that you do not simply read the Word with the notion that all you have needed is now completed!
"As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead." James 2:26
You say you are a Christian? Prove it! DO something to validate your identity. 'Show' some credentials that substantiate your claim. Put your words in action. Get your belief out of a 'system' and into the mainstream! You say you are going to heaven? Prove it! Live a life worthy of the name of the Christ whose name you bear. You say you love God? Prove it! Engage in meeting needs and expressing His compassion, prompted by a true love for Him that is expressed in your school, on your street, in your city and beyond. You say you have 'faith'? Prove it! Take a walk on the wild side and trust God when everyone else in trusting in yet another government bailout.
Guess whose watching what you DO?
"Nothing in all creation is hidden from His sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to Whom we must give account." Hebrews 4:13
I wonder who came up with that 'the proof is in the pudding' phrase. He must have been at that Naval banquet with Missouri Congressman Vandiver!
According to the Missouri Secretary of State's Office, the state slogan is 'unofficial', (so what if it the 'unofficial' slogan is on every Missouri license plate!) and its origins unconfirmed. If you need that in writing because you are a 'Show Me' kind of person, you can look in the Official Manual of the State of Missouri, 1979-1980, page 1486.
According to the 'Show Me' legend, U.S. Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver, who served in the House of Representatives from 1879-1903 was attending an 1899 Naval banquet in Philadelphia. In a speech there he declared, "I come from a sate that raises corn and cotton and cocklerburs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces me nor satisfied me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me!" Although unconfirmed and unofficial, his speech popularized the saying for sure.
"Do not merely listen to the Word and deceive yourselves. Do what it says." James 1:22
Actions matter to God and they should matter to you.
What you DO makes a difference to God and to others. What you DO validates the worth of your proclamations, platitudes and promises. What you DO is the compelling factor that draws people to faith in Christ or a repelling reality that stymies faith of those in search of Him. One of the problems of listening to sermons and speeches is that...you listen to sermons and speeches! Listening is the starting point, ("Faith comes by hearing the message and the message is heard through the word of Christ." Romans 10:17), but it is not the ending point. Hearing is the launching point that leads to action...from a transformed heart that is applied in the venue of real life...in your marriage, with your children, at the office, around your neighborhood...and in your church.
I have often wondered how the people of Israel could stand for the majority of the day listening to the Word of God (read the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah and you will be 'shown') without sitting! They stood the whole while as the Scripture was read, explained and applied in their hearing so that a specific outcome would result...they would DO what they heard! The did not have pews, theater seats or lawn chairs...God spoke to them...and off they went to their families, tribes, clans, villages, neighborhoods and houses. Why?
To DO something! There was a time to listen and there was a time to live! There was a time to absorb and then a time to be poured out. There was a time to learn and then came the time to apply. Be careful that you do not simply read the Word with the notion that all you have needed is now completed!
"As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead." James 2:26
You say you are a Christian? Prove it! DO something to validate your identity. 'Show' some credentials that substantiate your claim. Put your words in action. Get your belief out of a 'system' and into the mainstream! You say you are going to heaven? Prove it! Live a life worthy of the name of the Christ whose name you bear. You say you love God? Prove it! Engage in meeting needs and expressing His compassion, prompted by a true love for Him that is expressed in your school, on your street, in your city and beyond. You say you have 'faith'? Prove it! Take a walk on the wild side and trust God when everyone else in trusting in yet another government bailout.
Guess whose watching what you DO?
"Nothing in all creation is hidden from His sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to Whom we must give account." Hebrews 4:13
I wonder who came up with that 'the proof is in the pudding' phrase. He must have been at that Naval banquet with Missouri Congressman Vandiver!
Friday, January 2, 2009
Next Steps
I read this quote from a man that I have not had a chance to meet personally;
"There is nothing in my life that God does not know and did not appoint."
I was fixed by that self statement. I read that one sentence once, and again, and again, several times over and considered its witness and meaning. What a concise way to say that between himself and God his Redeemer, there was no veil or secrecy or any event that He did not permit with the outcome to be His glory known.
We give God credit for the upswings but how about being downtrodden? We see His hand in the obvious blessings of favor, but can we say the same about the painful and the unpredictable? Can you actually live in such union with Christ that even the 'valley of the shadow' can be appreciated as His movement upon you rather than just another bummer event that you just have to live with? It is amazing to meet a person whose every step is as the Good Book says, 'ordered by the Lord'. It is even more amazing that a man would offer the witness that his every step was in sync with God's agenda for the whole of his followship to Christ.
"What you have just said is quite true." John 4:18
What happens if you get 'out of step'? What is the recourse for those whose lives are marred by mistake, regret and simply put...willful sin? In the context of these eight words, a woman whose lifestyle left her abused, alone and aloof from God was in the balance. She could admit the facts about her failures, or she could dodge the issue altogether. Jesus commended her honesty. From that time forward, she may well too could have said;
"There is nothing in my life that God does not know and did not appoint."
It is amazing what the next steps that you take after He initiates life change. This woman jumped the subway and was back in her hometown pronto to announce to those who may very well have despised her of the coming of the much anticipated Christ. How did she recognize Jesus as the Christ? He mentioned in part what she knew as being pretty much the whole of her life story. She would be different from that forward, (as would many others). She knew it. Jesus most certainly knew it! From that day, her ambition and perhaps reality was that her steps would also be 'ordered by the Lord'.
When life change occurs, life direction does too.
For Mike Blaylock, those 'steps' ordered by the Lord would take him into some interesting and formidable ministry venues. Just last week, this 53 year old Vice President of Campus Affairs for the University of Mobile died from colon cancer diagnosed just two years earlier. Prior to walking on campus a decade ago as his steps would take him, Mike served two amazing churches as a faithful staff member. He also was the Chaplain for the Kansas City Royals from 1975-1980. He was the featured speaker and singer at no less than three American League Championship series games and had been called upon by national speakers bureau's to inspire professional baseball and football teams as well as organizations and universities with his humor and intensely personal and practical gospel presentations.
After years of encouraging college students to excel and to offer their lives to Someone greater than themselves, this good humored, other centered, Christ loving servant of God took his next step into the eternity that has been carefully prepared for him.
"We no longer believe just because of what you have said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world." John 4:42
There are literally hundreds if not thousands who have been encouraged to Christ because this dear man saw each step as a divine appointment as God's herald. People and generations of people have been and will be impacted by the life of his testimony and the Living Word that has initiated such divine truth through so willing an ambassador. Many have and will hear and believe for themselves because of the faithful walk of Mike Blaylock.
I became intrigued by this man because I read his obituary on the campus website of the University of Mobile, the college I graduated from in 1979...long before Mike took his first step on campus. I became further intrigued when I read on that he was a Kansas City native and that his parents continue to make KC their home. From here, the Lord ordered Mike's steps to Mobile...and from Mobile, the Lord (in His time) has ordered my steps to KC. Our paths crossed and we never knew it!
Yours and my next steps may be in the very place that Mike knows firsthand as 'home'. One day someone may stumble over your obituary just as I did Mike's. I am so glad that he walked well so that others could be led to Christ by way of his footprints. Thank you Mike...I will do my best to leave the same obvious trail.
"There is nothing in my life that God does not know and did not appoint."
I was fixed by that self statement. I read that one sentence once, and again, and again, several times over and considered its witness and meaning. What a concise way to say that between himself and God his Redeemer, there was no veil or secrecy or any event that He did not permit with the outcome to be His glory known.
We give God credit for the upswings but how about being downtrodden? We see His hand in the obvious blessings of favor, but can we say the same about the painful and the unpredictable? Can you actually live in such union with Christ that even the 'valley of the shadow' can be appreciated as His movement upon you rather than just another bummer event that you just have to live with? It is amazing to meet a person whose every step is as the Good Book says, 'ordered by the Lord'. It is even more amazing that a man would offer the witness that his every step was in sync with God's agenda for the whole of his followship to Christ.
"What you have just said is quite true." John 4:18
What happens if you get 'out of step'? What is the recourse for those whose lives are marred by mistake, regret and simply put...willful sin? In the context of these eight words, a woman whose lifestyle left her abused, alone and aloof from God was in the balance. She could admit the facts about her failures, or she could dodge the issue altogether. Jesus commended her honesty. From that time forward, she may well too could have said;
"There is nothing in my life that God does not know and did not appoint."
It is amazing what the next steps that you take after He initiates life change. This woman jumped the subway and was back in her hometown pronto to announce to those who may very well have despised her of the coming of the much anticipated Christ. How did she recognize Jesus as the Christ? He mentioned in part what she knew as being pretty much the whole of her life story. She would be different from that forward, (as would many others). She knew it. Jesus most certainly knew it! From that day, her ambition and perhaps reality was that her steps would also be 'ordered by the Lord'.
When life change occurs, life direction does too.
For Mike Blaylock, those 'steps' ordered by the Lord would take him into some interesting and formidable ministry venues. Just last week, this 53 year old Vice President of Campus Affairs for the University of Mobile died from colon cancer diagnosed just two years earlier. Prior to walking on campus a decade ago as his steps would take him, Mike served two amazing churches as a faithful staff member. He also was the Chaplain for the Kansas City Royals from 1975-1980. He was the featured speaker and singer at no less than three American League Championship series games and had been called upon by national speakers bureau's to inspire professional baseball and football teams as well as organizations and universities with his humor and intensely personal and practical gospel presentations.
After years of encouraging college students to excel and to offer their lives to Someone greater than themselves, this good humored, other centered, Christ loving servant of God took his next step into the eternity that has been carefully prepared for him.
"We no longer believe just because of what you have said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world." John 4:42
There are literally hundreds if not thousands who have been encouraged to Christ because this dear man saw each step as a divine appointment as God's herald. People and generations of people have been and will be impacted by the life of his testimony and the Living Word that has initiated such divine truth through so willing an ambassador. Many have and will hear and believe for themselves because of the faithful walk of Mike Blaylock.
I became intrigued by this man because I read his obituary on the campus website of the University of Mobile, the college I graduated from in 1979...long before Mike took his first step on campus. I became further intrigued when I read on that he was a Kansas City native and that his parents continue to make KC their home. From here, the Lord ordered Mike's steps to Mobile...and from Mobile, the Lord (in His time) has ordered my steps to KC. Our paths crossed and we never knew it!
Yours and my next steps may be in the very place that Mike knows firsthand as 'home'. One day someone may stumble over your obituary just as I did Mike's. I am so glad that he walked well so that others could be led to Christ by way of his footprints. Thank you Mike...I will do my best to leave the same obvious trail.
Bar Codes
Zip an item across the laser and up jumps the price on the touch screen at your local Wal Mart.
Does that not just amaze you? To me, that is the coolest of the cool. How does a machine know what it is that you have just bought and how to read those silly lines at the bottom of each item? Who thought that up? Who made that happen? What kind of brainiac came up with that thought to begin with? Imagine that person telling their best friend of their fixation with making shopping easier for the shopper, accounting easier for the accountant, the inventory count more accurate for the night stocker? What a conversation that would be!
"Hey man, I've got this idea."
"What is it?"
"Well, I am thinking about how to take a common store item and tabulate the cost electronically so that people can get what they need while being spared long lines."
"How you gonna do that?"
"I have this schematic diagram I have been working on for the last 8 months of an electronic check out counter that can scan, read, identify and calculate each item and its cost. I also think I can provide a diversified payment option that can include cash, credit or direct bank debit."
"You're joking, right?"
"I think I have about got it ready for presentation. All I need is another investor. I have a presentation ready for an Executive Manager for Wal Mart that I have scheduled next week in Arkansas. Want to be partners?"
"You're joking, right?"
Wonder how many people lost the chance to strike it rich with a bar code reading 'cash register'? You know that they have to be kicking themselves over and over...especially when they are in the check out line at their local Wal Mart! Who would have thought machines could read code? Today, automated systems do that and much, much more.
'He did not need man's testimony about man, for He knew what was in a man." John 2:25
Jesus cleared out the Temple of those whose hearts He could read like a bar code cash register. He even withheld Himself from clarifying with absolute certainty that He was indeed the very Son of God to those whose skepticism could not be satisfied even with the most obvious of miraculous identifiers. He intentionally kept what was obvious for some hidden to others. Why? Because He did not need to hear words to read hearts. Inward motives could not be covered by outward appeals. Hidden agenda's, secret unbelief and smile covered attitudes could not be kept from Jesus. "He knew what was in a man."
"He would not entrust Himself to them, for He knew all men." John 2:24
Jesus was careful to whom He gave Himself. He did not reveal everything to everyone every time that He had opportunity. At times He would even pull His disciples away from the crowds to privately review, explain and instruct them. Jesus knew the sincere heart. He knew the readied heart. He knew the faithful heart, the expectant heart, the hungering heart and the waiting heart. Jesus knew full well the broken hearted. He had no problem seeing straight through the hard of heart, the resistant heart and the indulgent heart.
It is a good thing to invite Jesus to inspect your heart. Pass by and offer to Him your open heart and see what happens next! Could you imagine all the wonder, the blessing, and the satisfying joys that He would lavish upon you as one of the upright of heart? Search the Scriptures and you will see person after person to whom He entrusted Himself because He could read their hearts just as routinely as you scan the bar code of your next box of cereal at Wal Mart. It did not matter to Jesus if a person wore a priestly robe or was covered in shame...as long as they did not attempt to disguise their inner person. The sincere of heart before Jesus are candidates for untold blessing and life change.
He knows your heart. Do you know His?
Does that not just amaze you? To me, that is the coolest of the cool. How does a machine know what it is that you have just bought and how to read those silly lines at the bottom of each item? Who thought that up? Who made that happen? What kind of brainiac came up with that thought to begin with? Imagine that person telling their best friend of their fixation with making shopping easier for the shopper, accounting easier for the accountant, the inventory count more accurate for the night stocker? What a conversation that would be!
"Hey man, I've got this idea."
"What is it?"
"Well, I am thinking about how to take a common store item and tabulate the cost electronically so that people can get what they need while being spared long lines."
"How you gonna do that?"
"I have this schematic diagram I have been working on for the last 8 months of an electronic check out counter that can scan, read, identify and calculate each item and its cost. I also think I can provide a diversified payment option that can include cash, credit or direct bank debit."
"You're joking, right?"
"I think I have about got it ready for presentation. All I need is another investor. I have a presentation ready for an Executive Manager for Wal Mart that I have scheduled next week in Arkansas. Want to be partners?"
"You're joking, right?"
Wonder how many people lost the chance to strike it rich with a bar code reading 'cash register'? You know that they have to be kicking themselves over and over...especially when they are in the check out line at their local Wal Mart! Who would have thought machines could read code? Today, automated systems do that and much, much more.
'He did not need man's testimony about man, for He knew what was in a man." John 2:25
Jesus cleared out the Temple of those whose hearts He could read like a bar code cash register. He even withheld Himself from clarifying with absolute certainty that He was indeed the very Son of God to those whose skepticism could not be satisfied even with the most obvious of miraculous identifiers. He intentionally kept what was obvious for some hidden to others. Why? Because He did not need to hear words to read hearts. Inward motives could not be covered by outward appeals. Hidden agenda's, secret unbelief and smile covered attitudes could not be kept from Jesus. "He knew what was in a man."
"He would not entrust Himself to them, for He knew all men." John 2:24
Jesus was careful to whom He gave Himself. He did not reveal everything to everyone every time that He had opportunity. At times He would even pull His disciples away from the crowds to privately review, explain and instruct them. Jesus knew the sincere heart. He knew the readied heart. He knew the faithful heart, the expectant heart, the hungering heart and the waiting heart. Jesus knew full well the broken hearted. He had no problem seeing straight through the hard of heart, the resistant heart and the indulgent heart.
It is a good thing to invite Jesus to inspect your heart. Pass by and offer to Him your open heart and see what happens next! Could you imagine all the wonder, the blessing, and the satisfying joys that He would lavish upon you as one of the upright of heart? Search the Scriptures and you will see person after person to whom He entrusted Himself because He could read their hearts just as routinely as you scan the bar code of your next box of cereal at Wal Mart. It did not matter to Jesus if a person wore a priestly robe or was covered in shame...as long as they did not attempt to disguise their inner person. The sincere of heart before Jesus are candidates for untold blessing and life change.
He knows your heart. Do you know His?
House Cleaning
OCD
You may recognize these initials. You may even use them from time to time. You may have this condition. Clinically speaking, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is when you are seemingly controlled by the urge to do something...over and over...without provocation or even cause. It is an inner want to DO something that after having accomplished it, a sense...no...a flood of relief washes away anxiety that to that point has held you as its hostage.
For me...I like things clean. I like order. My OCD is hereditary! I inherited it from my mother! This is especially true for cluttered kitchen counter tops, unmade beds, out of order couch cushions and important stuff like that. I prefer to have my shirts light to medium starched as heavy starch causes unwanted wrinkles. When I cut my grass, the tread marks of my lawnmower must leave straight impressions on the sod. The lawn just looks better that way!
I drive my family nuts. Its not that they are not all for order and being tidy, its just that they are not controlled by those kinds of impulses as I am. They can keep those urges in check a lot better than I could ever hope to. When I leave town on business for a couple of days, its like Independence Day at the house. My kids actually brag to me that they purposely did not make their beds during those brief days of liberty!
Do you like a 'clean house'?
"Zeal for your house will consume me." John 2:17
The context for this Scriptural quotation applied to the Jesus is what we know to be the 'Cleansing of the Temple'.
"Get out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market." John 2:16
During the most holy of all Jewish Festivals, the Passover, Jesus launches His public ministry evicting those who had defiled the appointed place of worship, the temple, with their greed laden self-centered agenda's. Such included and permitted extortion of sincere worshippers. What made matters even worse was the obvious lack of regard for the very place where God and man were to meet in restored intimate fellowship and communion depicted in the very observance of the Passover itself! You could say that Jesus really 'cracked the whip'...and you would be exactly right! That is how fierce His love and devotion were to His Father and for those who sought to worship Him as the One and Only.
Jesus 'cleaned house'!
As followers of Jesus, we know that our bodies are now His 'temple', (1 Corinthians 3:16-17). We are the place where His living presence dwells. He cares deeply that He be honored as Lord and Christ with use of every muscle, each word from our lips, every thought that catches our focus. If we are not careful, our 'temples' can become just as polluted as the very place where you would have thought sin would have limited or no influence that Jesus had such zeal for. Do you think that He has less holy passion for you and the use of your 'temple' as He did for the building that had been abused by unholy profiteers?
Think again.
I am not saying that Jesus had OCD...but I do think that it is always wise to keep your 'house in order'. If He 'cleans your house', take that as an indicator that His passion for you is nothing less than at fever pitch and that anything that lacks order in honoring your Heavenly Father will not be tolerated for long.
You may recognize these initials. You may even use them from time to time. You may have this condition. Clinically speaking, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is when you are seemingly controlled by the urge to do something...over and over...without provocation or even cause. It is an inner want to DO something that after having accomplished it, a sense...no...a flood of relief washes away anxiety that to that point has held you as its hostage.
For me...I like things clean. I like order. My OCD is hereditary! I inherited it from my mother! This is especially true for cluttered kitchen counter tops, unmade beds, out of order couch cushions and important stuff like that. I prefer to have my shirts light to medium starched as heavy starch causes unwanted wrinkles. When I cut my grass, the tread marks of my lawnmower must leave straight impressions on the sod. The lawn just looks better that way!
I drive my family nuts. Its not that they are not all for order and being tidy, its just that they are not controlled by those kinds of impulses as I am. They can keep those urges in check a lot better than I could ever hope to. When I leave town on business for a couple of days, its like Independence Day at the house. My kids actually brag to me that they purposely did not make their beds during those brief days of liberty!
Do you like a 'clean house'?
"Zeal for your house will consume me." John 2:17
The context for this Scriptural quotation applied to the Jesus is what we know to be the 'Cleansing of the Temple'.
"Get out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market." John 2:16
During the most holy of all Jewish Festivals, the Passover, Jesus launches His public ministry evicting those who had defiled the appointed place of worship, the temple, with their greed laden self-centered agenda's. Such included and permitted extortion of sincere worshippers. What made matters even worse was the obvious lack of regard for the very place where God and man were to meet in restored intimate fellowship and communion depicted in the very observance of the Passover itself! You could say that Jesus really 'cracked the whip'...and you would be exactly right! That is how fierce His love and devotion were to His Father and for those who sought to worship Him as the One and Only.
Jesus 'cleaned house'!
As followers of Jesus, we know that our bodies are now His 'temple', (1 Corinthians 3:16-17). We are the place where His living presence dwells. He cares deeply that He be honored as Lord and Christ with use of every muscle, each word from our lips, every thought that catches our focus. If we are not careful, our 'temples' can become just as polluted as the very place where you would have thought sin would have limited or no influence that Jesus had such zeal for. Do you think that He has less holy passion for you and the use of your 'temple' as He did for the building that had been abused by unholy profiteers?
Think again.
I am not saying that Jesus had OCD...but I do think that it is always wise to keep your 'house in order'. If He 'cleans your house', take that as an indicator that His passion for you is nothing less than at fever pitch and that anything that lacks order in honoring your Heavenly Father will not be tolerated for long.
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